Nationals' Danny Espinosa able to start Sunday vs. Dodgers

"I drink a lot of fluids, but for whatever reason yesterday, it got me," Espinosa said, per the Associated Press. "I was cramping in the sixth inning. I got a base hit as I was going down the line, (I felt) tight."

Espinosa is batting .233 (10 for 43) with one double, two home runs, five RBI, four runs, three walks and 13 strikeouts in 12 July games.

Nationals' Danny Espinosa belts 10th home run on Saturday

by Jason Lempert | Staff Writer

(7/11/15) Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa had the biggest hit of the night in Saturday's 7-4 win over the Orioles. Espinosa launched a go-ahead, three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to give his club a 6-4 lead.

The home run was Espinosa's 10th of the year, making this the first time he's reached double digits in homers since 2012.

Nationals' Danny Espinosa homers in two-hit game

by Shawn Krest | CBSSports.com

(7/6/15) Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa went 2 for 4 in Monday's loss to Cincinnati, the second day in a row Espinosa has had multiple hits in a game. Espinosa has hit in the last three and his 5 for his last 10.

Espinosa had his 15th double and ninth home run of the year in the game. It's the first time he's had multiple extra-base hits in a game since getting two doubles on June 30. He went deep for the first time since June 10.

Nationals' Danny Espinosa gets start at shortstop Thursday

by Sean d'Oliveira | CBSSports.com

(7/2/15) The Nationals will start infielder Danny Espinosa at shortstop for Thursday's game at Atlanta, reports MASNsports.com.

He will bat second and replace Ian Desmond, who was given the day off. Over his last 10 games, Espinosa is hitting .194 with two doubles and three RBI.

2014 Summary: Because of injuries to Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa ended up playing more than anticipated in 2014, but unfortunately not well enough to keep the Nationals happy. They replaced him with Asdrubal Cabrera at the trade deadline. In some ways, it was a bounce-back season for Espinosa after he attempted to play through a torn rotator cuff and broken wrist in 2013, but the Nationals were no longer so willing to wait out the debilitating slumps that come with him striking out every third at-bat.

Playing time status: Espinosa is a good enough defender to remain in the Nationals' plans for 2015 but, as 2014 confirmed, not a good enough hitter to hold-down a full-time role. Even if they don't bring back Cabrera, the Nationals will find someone to at least share second base duties. It won't be Anthony Rendon, though, who's now entrenched at third base with Zimmerman moving to first.

2015 Outlook: Espinosa looked like an emerging 20-20 man as the Nationals' primary second baseman in 2011 and 2012 and showed he still has that kind of potential with eight homers and eight steals in 333 at-bats last year. But his flaws are so glaring that even if he did come into regular at-bats in 2015, he would probably be just an NL-only option.
(Updated 11/23/14)